I think there a lot of much more complex issues here. Gun laws is only one of them and by no means the most relevant.

It's a very worrying situation that is getting worse.

Perhaps not so much gun law as gun availability. We've had our own incidents, Hungerford and Dunblane, but the availability of guns in the UK has always been much more tightly controlled. In the USA, in some states, you can buy a gun on production of a driving licence. After the Colombine incident they showed one of the offenders photographed, aged just 2 years, in camouflage gear and holding a rifle. Whereas the majority of people here have never handled a gun, other than at a fun fair, the opposite is truer in the USA.

I think there a lot of much more complex issues here. Gun laws is only one of them and by no means the most relevant.

It's a very worrying situation that is getting worse.

Perhaps not so much gun law as gun availability. We've had our own incidents, Hungerford and Dunblane, but the availability of guns in the UK has always been much more tightly controlled. In the USA, in some states, you can buy a gun on production of a driving licence. After the Colombine incident they showed one of the offenders photographed, aged just 2 years, in camouflage gear and holding a rifle. Whereas the majority of people here have never handled a gun, other than at a fun fair, the opposite is truer in the USA.

So possiby the fetishisation (new word for the day!) of guns may go some way to explain the issues they are having.

I have seen videos posted on sites like YouTube where kids, who cannot be in double figures in the terms of age, are firing rifles. Unfortunately, I cannot access those sites at the moment.

This is all part of the American Gospel, a piece of paper known as 'The Bill of Rights'... in which the rights of citizens of the US is literally carved into stone, and woe-betide any fool that tries to change it, one of those rights is The right to bear arms. Take away or amend any of those rights and it is the end of the United States of America.... or so they tell us.

But, in the UK when there is a domestic row that turns to violence it is usually with fist, and there will be black eyes and cracked bones the morning after. But if there is a gun in the house and tempers REALLY flare beyond reason that gun can be picked up and used.

When some guy with issues goes crazy, more often than not he will be unarmed in the UK. I know, I know... we have had Dunblaine and Hungerford, but thankfully it is a rarity in the UK. But in a society where it is common for guns to be kept in a home, the bloke who has finally gone over the edge has a dangerous tool.

But do not even think about messing with the rights of an American. And thus this will always happen in the US a damned sight more than in the UK.

Take a look at Marvyn Gaye. He was having one hell of a ding dong with his dad... and his dad picked up his shotgun and shot Gaye dead in a fit of terrible rage because he had access to the gun! In the UK it would have been a fistfight in most homes.

I agree with New Wiganer. It's the availability of the guns which is the problem. Our local Wal-mart sells guns. Right next to the camping gear and the cds. The only gun shop I ever saw before I came over to the States was McAvoy's in Standish and that always looked shut!
As Cadfael says, there is no way that the Americans will change that part of the Bill of Rights ( My son tells me that it's the 2nd amendment to the bill of Rights.).
It would be very hard to change the minds of the millions of Americans who believe in that right, especially as the NRA ( National Rifle Association) is a very powerful organisation here - politically and otherwise.
Guns scare me to death. And that isn't meant as a pun.